Monday, November 10, 2008

One, Two, Three


Gumdrop Pillows - one, two and three of them. I had made up this Amy Butler pattern a few months ago and my kids loved the end product. So much so that they pretty much claimed the one I had made for the living room. The first one was used for a few months and is definately showing what happens when you bounce on it - ALOT! It became pretty clear that they each wanted one of their own for their rooms. So after I sourced out some fun home decor weight canvas, I finally got some spare time to sew these up. The pattern is really quick and easy to do. My son loves flag related things, so he got this american themed pillow. My daughter got the fun polka dots. They are both thrilled. The only downfall to this pattern is that it takes a small truckload of fiber fill. I used 10 lbs of fiberfill per pillow. But once you buy out your local store a few times, you'll probably have enough to fill these pillows.

I made the 24" version which is the perfect ottoman-esque size. It's a great place to throw up your tired toes at the end of the day, or bounce around on if you are seven, or even if you are not.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The season for giving thanks


Yup, it's that time of year. Thanksgiving approaches, the holidays fall swiftly thereafter. The thing I love most about this time of year is the assembly of family and the sharing of fun things, like baking cookies together with the kids, enjoying the fall colors, doing family activities and other celebratory events with friends. More often than not the last few years, it seems that life gets busier and busier and I'm always caught breathless with the sheer number of things that dot my to-do to list. So this year I have resolved to enjoy more, take on less and especially to be thankful for what I've got. So it's pretty timely that Mary (Flourishes) posted the thankful for 30 pledge. Apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way. Feel free to join if you like.

I'm certainly thankful for the sewing knowledge passed on to me from my Mother. She has enabled me to make all these fine things and to have fun doing it at the same time.

Some newer finished projects:

Olivia pattern from Farbenmix - comfy and warm for fall.
The cute little birdies are Luiza Pimpinella's designs from Huups - I swear if it was made in Europe I will probably love it! Must be my Austrian genes kicking in or something. These ethnic-inspired little birds just appeal to me and my daughter loved them. Ribbon is from Farbenmix - nice quality stuff to if I do say so myself. Can be had from lots of US-based online vendors if you want to hunt some down. Some more examples of this fun ribbon can be found here and here in Sarah's photos.

Back of the dress - I modified the hoody pattern - it calls for a fun spiral, but I knew my little sophisticate wouldn't go for that plus I could see every kid in her classroom pulling on that thing all day-long. Kids will be kids afterall.


Next up is the Roxy dress which was supposed to be finished in time for school, but hey better late than never, right? I had been itching to do something with Sandi Henderson's Farmer's market fabric for quite some time. This little dress was just the thing that it was whispering in my ear.


The sleeves call for elastic so i used a ruffle edged elastic sewn in so that the ruffle shows and added on the velvet ribbons for trim.
Applique design is from the Helen's friends set at Huups. - yeah there's that Euro thing again. I still need to make some matching leggings to finish up the set.

Friday, October 31, 2008